Israel Announces That It Is Officially Leaving UNESCO

Danny Danon, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. Photo: UN Photo/Loey Felipe.

JNS.org – Israel will officially no longer be a member of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, on Tuesday.

“Israel will not be part of a body that continually rewrites history, including by erasing the Jewish connection to Jerusalem,” Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told JNS. “UNESCO is manipulated by Israel’s enemies and continually singles out the Jewish state for condemnation.”

In September, Israel declined to partake in UNESCO’s conference on antisemitism “due to the organization’s persistent and egregious bias against Israel,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The United States is also expected to leave UNESCO. The State Department did not return a request for comment.